Shawshank Redemption: Movie vs. Book

Plot

The basic plot of the story stayed the same throughout the movie, however there were some differences between the two.  One difference is that Tommy is killed in the movie by Norton but in the story, he is merely transferred to another prison.  Another difference is that Red explains how he killed his wife in the novella.  I think that the director choose not to talk about the murder of his wife so that Red was more likeable.  In the movie though, he only says that he has killed someone.  Another big difference is that Red never actually meets up with Andy in Mexico in the novella while he does in the book.

Point of View

There is no difference between the novella and in film in terms of point of view.  Both stories are told in first person from Red’s perspective.  A bit of a difference was that the movie allowed the audience to see things from Andy’s point of view.  This allows the audience to have a broader view of the story as it is told.  In the novella, the reader doesn’t know whether or not Andy is guilty because they only have Red’s perspective.  In the movie though, the audience can see what Andy thinks.

Characterization

One of the biggest differences is that Red is a white man with red hair in the novella while he is black in the movie.  Red is shown as a better person in the movie than in the novella.  In the book, he talks about killing his wife and others while he only mentions he committed a murder in the movie.  Another difference is that Andy was more sociable in the movie than he appeared to be in the novella.  He, like Red, was made more likeable by the movie directors. 

Setting

The setting remained the same in both the movie and the short story.  The story takes place at a Shawshank prison.  The movie must take place at the prison for the story to have the same affect.  The prison is vital to the story therefore it could not be changed.  One minor difference would be that Red did not go to Mexico in the novella.  He did however meet up with Andy in Mexico in the movie.

Theme

The major theme of the story stayed the same in both versions.  Hope was the biggest theme and it showed throughout the novella and movie.  Andy remained hopeful throughout the story that he would one day be free again.  He had kept hope for a retrial and kept hope for an escape.  The final words of the novel had Red saying that he hoped to find Andy again.  Another theme was that of persistence.  Andy and Red persevered through their time at Shawshank.  Even with all of the bad things that happened to the both of them they still kept going.